Kazakh Culture: A Cultural Analysis

Every nation has a distinctive culture. Culture refers to conceptions of the nature of things, basics of social organization, norms concerning proper behaviour, patterned traditions or folk customs, and same ideas and beliefs (Lechner and Boli 2008). There are many aspects of Kazakh culture. For example, music, language, architecture, religion, gender roles, etc. Most of these have changed through the times for the better or worse. This essay will argue that the role of men and women in Kazakh culture has changed for the better since the time of the Kazakh Khanate. Change for the better means both men and women have the same rights for diverse things such as marriage, studying and working, and being an important part of a society which means

At the pre-Soviet time, Kazakh people had a gendered separation of labour, where men, according to Kazakh’s tradition and folkway, were main wageworker and work outside while women do household tasks such as cooking, cleaning and washing, childcare, serving guests, and preparing textiles (Bacon 1980; Kuleimenov and Nikolayeva 2014; Werner 2004). Currently, this stereotype completely changed as a result women can be a head of family, work outside her home. There are number of cases where the wife take care for the livestock and made important decision. Nevertheless, the household work are the responsibility of a women regardless her income and status in a society which means that while she equalize her position with a men’s, he does not made the “woman’s work”. These indicate that responsibility of women increased, but steel based on a tradition. However, it is not negatively affect the culture conversely changed it for the better. Now, in Kazakh culture the women are more appreciated and not perceived as an

In the days of the Kazakh Khanate, parents would not allow to their daughters to learn to read and write while males were not restricted on that. They believed that only men should be educated, which means being a part of society. However, by the end of Soviet era, the percentage of literate Kazakh women raised to 96%, 52% of students in university of Kazakhstan were females, and approximately 90% of women between the ages of 30-50 were employed (Bauer, Boschmann and Green 1997 cited in Werner 2009, 320). These data suggest that the Soviet Union period drastically changed Kazakh people’s perspective concerning education. As well as literacy is required factor, that affects to the diversity aspect of culture and helps save it for the next generations as it is, especially for women who are bringing up children. Therefore, equality of the sexes in Kazakh culture on education aspect changed it for the better.
To sum up, since the time of Kazakh Khanate, the gender roles almost equalized at different aspects of people’s life such as making decisions concerning marriage, responsibilities in a family and opportunity to be educated. Changes in tradition and stereotypes of Kazakh people about gender roles positively affected to the culture